Hawaii is No. 7 in the country in gas prices at $3.394 a gallon. 

Well, the over 55 housing communities that have appeared on the mainland, now have made their way to Hawaii.  Brookfield Homes Hawaii will add a community here on Oahu in the Kapolei area, offerring independent living all the way up to skilled nursing assisted living, a 20,000 square foot clubhouse and other amenities.  This will be the first, that I am aware of, that will offer the independent living in a home format on Oahu.  For more information read Affluent Senior Community Set For Kapolei, by the Pacific Business News.

As president of our association board of directors, the question of banning a unit owner from smoking in their own unit was brought up before in a meeting and does any association board have the right to ban smoking in a condo owners own unit, if it affects their neighbors. 

Looks like The Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii is trying to push in that direction as indicated in the article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, Homes Next target For Smoking Ban.  They are not pushing for laws that would ban smoking, but are pushing to educate associations about adopting rules that would ban smoking in units and on lanais.  Evidently there are associations that have already passed such policies.  This was news to me.  I have read through hundreds of condominium documents with clients that have purchased a condo and have not come across any of these types of policies yet. 

The new condominium laws that came out late last year do address smoking in common areas, but not in ones particular unit.  This should be interesting to see how this plays out.  If associations start adopting these types of policies, this will be another item that buyers and their agents will have to be aware of and research to make sure the right property is acquired. 

I can see it now, “So you need a unit that allows you to smoke and have a 70lb dog?” 

Experts in the tourism industry are taking a wait and see approach to fully predict the direction of the tourism industry.  May is typically an off month, and reports for the first five months of 2007 are mixed.  Visitor arrivals are up from the same time last year, along with room rates and profits are stable, yet hotel occupancy is down for all four major islands.  Read 5 months in, tourism still runs hot and cold from the Pacific Business News

The ongoing public debate about allowing more new housing development projects made the front page news of the Honolulu Advertiser today.  Traffic woes have plagued the Ewa Beach development area with little resolution for immediate infrastructure improvement, and there are plans for another 20,000 new homes in the Ewa Plain area.  These traffic woes combined with the developments in Leeward Coast, Makakilo, and Kapolei, have significantly added to the commute times and headaches for those that live in Central Oahu and the Ewa-Kapolei areas.  The infrastructure improvements haven’t kept up with the development of the area.   Now the next two big projects that will effect Central Oahu residents comes to the forefront for debate. 

On one hand the Waiawa Ridge and Koa Ridge projects will add more new and much needed homes to the mix for Oahu residents?  Both projects could add a total of 17,500 homes to opposite sides of the H-2 freeway below Mililani, adding to the short supply of housing that has seen prices increase further than expected and giving island residents more options to choose from.

On the other hand the projects will add significantly to the already heavily traveled H-1 and H-2 freeways, especially at the H-1/H-2 merge that will add those commuters to the already heavily traveled highway into Honolulu.  Read It’s a tale of 2 ridges - and 17,500 homes for an insightful look into the ongoing housing development debate on Oahu.  If you are planning on relocating to the island and aren’t familiar with the islands housing layout, this is a good read to see some of the issues at hand.

The 2007 First Hawaiian Bank Economic Forecast is fresh off the presses, literarlly.  It came in a print addition, which drives me nuts, because it is more difficult to give you direct access to the information so you can form your own opinions and thoughts.  However, after a little searching I was able to find it in a pdf. format. The above link takes you to the FHB website where you can download it for yourself.  The title alone says the same thing that most of the other economist have said and what has been echoed here.  “Although Hawaii’s 10 year expansion has cooled, 2007 outlook is for “better than a soft landing”.  This is one of the better explanations of the overall economy here and there is sooo much information, it is better I don’t try to summarize it.   Enjoy reading this with adobe reader.

An article from the Honolulu Advertiser titled, Hawaii Home Sales Buck Previous Trends came out in early May and helps explain why the Hawaii housing market has done so well compared to some other areas of the country, and why this real estate cycle if different from teh boom to bust cycle of the late 80’s early 90’s.   As mentioned in several of the posts below, Hawaii’s economy is still very strong and growing, unemployement is at an all time low, there have been limits to over building here on Oahu over the last few years that have helped the supply-demand equilibrium that have hurt so many mainland areas, and interest rates are still historically low as well.  One other key factor is that there are quite a few Baby Boomer Buyers who want to purchase here to set themselves up with a place in paradise that they will retire to in 3-10 years.  The housing outlook looks pretty good compared to a lot of markets nationally for the next few years.

The Pacific Business News reported in Hawaii Weekly Jobless Claims Fall  that unemployement for the state still looks to be at 2.5%.  This is the lowest unemployement rate in the country.  Still showing that the economy here in Hawaii is strong. 

The Honolulu Advertiser posted an article today titled, Economy Still Growing  that states Hawaii’s economy is still growing at a better rate than the national average. Hawaii’s economy appears to be in good health and still growing after several years of rapid expansion.  As the state with the lowest unemployement in the US, this means that wages should still continue to increase and the number of jobs created should still increase.  This means a good outlook for the real estate industry and home prices.  A negative turn for the economy conversely would mean less people would have the opportunity for jobs and wages most likely wouldn’t increase as fast, causing a ripple effect for home prices.  We just aren’t there though and the outlook is good for the next several years.

It appears that the City & County of Honolulu will give homeowners a property tax break again.  The property tax rate would drop from $3.59 to $3.29 per thousand dollars of assessed value.  This comes as more an more local residents complain that their property taxes have risen too much in the last few years with the rise in property values. 

I can’t say I agree with this one.  On a $400,000 condo this comes out to about a $75 a year savings.  Hawaii already has among some of the lowest property taxes in the country and ranks 5th in the country for the tax-friendliest city.  If you have seeen our roadways and know about our sewer problems this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.  Especially seeing that our sewer fees are going to rise about 50% over the next few years.  The City is looking to increase the property taxes for properties zoned in Commercial, Industrial,  Hotel and Resort.  Here is the full article from the Honolulu Advertiser labeled, Homeowners may get a break as city cuts property tax rates.